The aim of this paper is to present a new analytical model developed for open-circuit magnetic field calculation in U-shape interior permanent magnet (IPM) machine. The model is developed based on the 2-D subdomain-model approach by solving Poisson's and Laplace's equations. The comprehensive theoretical derivations of the final analytical equations for magnetic flux density distribution in the air-gap and in the permanent magnets are explained in detail. We also provide the calculation algorithm in form of a flow diagram suitable for engineers to compute the radial and the tangential component of the magnetic flux density in all subdomains of slotless brushless machines with any possible number of rotor pole pairs of U-shaped IPMs. A slightly modified algorithm also applies to V-shaped IPMs.

The first case of ASF in a domestic pig population in Serbia was confirmed in 2019 in a backyard population. Today, outbreaks in wild boar and, more importantly, in domestic pigs are still occurring, although the government measures for ASF prevention are in place. The aim of this study was to determine critical risk factors and identify the possible reasons for ASF introduction into different extensive pig farms. The study was conducted on 26 extensive pig farms with confirmed ASF outbreaks, with data collected from beginning of 2020 to the end of 2022. Collected epidemiological data were divided into 21 main categories. After identifying specific values of variables as critical for ASF transmission, we identified nine important ASF transmission indicators as those variables for which at least 2/3 of the observed farms reported values critical for ASF transmission. Among them were type of holding, distance to hunting ground, farm/yard fencing, and home slaughtering; however, the hunting activity of pig holders, swill feeding, and feeding with mowed green mass were not included. We represented the data in the form of contingency tables to study associations between pairs of variables using Fisher’s exact test. All pairs of variables in the group including type of holding, farm/yard fencing, domestic pig–wild boar contact, and hunting activity were significantly related; hunting activity of pig holders, holding pigs in backyards, unfenced yards, and domestic pig–wild boar contact were observed on the same farms. Free-range pig farming led to observed domestic pig–wild boar contact on all farms. The identified critical risk factors need to be strictly addressed to prevent the further spread of ASF to extensive farms and backyards in Serbia and elsewhere.

In this paper we propose various extensions to the relational model to support similarity-based querying. We build upon the -relation model, where tuples are assigned values from an arbitrary semiring , and its associated positive relational algebra $\text{RA}^{+}_{\mathcal{K}}$ . We consider a recently proposed extension to $\text{RA}^{+}_{\mathcal{K}}$ using a monus operation on the semiring to support negative queries, and show how, surprisingly, it fails for important ‘fuzzy’ semirings. Instead, we suggest using a negation operator. We also consider the identities satisfied by the relational algebra $\text{RA}^{+}_{\mathcal{K}}$ . We show that moving from a semiring to a particular form of lattice (a De Morgan frame) yields a relational algebra that satisfies all the classical (positive) relational algebra identities. We claim that to support real-world similarity queries realistically, one must move from tuple-level annotations to attribute-level annotations. We show in detail how our De Morgan frame-based model can be extended to support attribute-level annotations and give worked examples of similarity queries in this setting.

The national regulation on animal welfare measure under the Rural Development Programme 2014–2022 identified grazing and helminth control as important measures to improve the welfare of cattle in Slovenia. The aim of the study was to evaluate these measures in terms of improving animal welfare and helminth control. Compositional fecal samples for coprological analysis were collected in the region of central Slovenia. Samples were qualitatively analysed for the presence of endoparasites using the flotation and sedimentation methods. During a seven-year period, 4480 compositional fecal samples were collected from cattle herds in the central Slovenia. In all seven years, the most prevalent helminths at the cattle herd level were Strongylida (ranging from 45.49% to 74.22%) and Paramphistomum sp. (ranging from 21.12% to 28.46%). After the treatments against helminths in grazing cattle, the prevalence of positive herds decreased from 83.63% to 63.64%. The calculated cross-correlation values showed significant positive association of the percentage of helminth-positive cattle herds with the prevalence of Fasciola hepatica (0.975), Nematodirus sp. (0.859), Strongylida (0.986), Strongyloides sp. (0.879) and Trichuris sp. (0.835). Hence, the efficient helminth control and improved animal welfare, as well as financial support of 53.40 EUR per livestock unit, contributed to a positive outcome of the programme.

In theoretical demand and supply analyses, functions with constant price elasticity are still frequently used although price elasticity is known to change in response to price. We relax the assumption of constant price elasticity to linear price elasticity which allows us to model demand and supply that decreases or increases with price. Quantity functions with linear price elasticity have been used in economics before but only to a limited extent since they have not been sufficiently theoretically studied. This paper overcomes this gap by identifying and studying all possible functional forms with linear price elasticity as well as their inverses, actually plotted as demand and supply curves. We find that quantity (demanded or supplied) as a function of price with linear price elasticity is a product of an exponential and a power function of price, while the price as a function of quantity involves the Lambert W function. Hence, the class of functions with linear price elasticity is heterogeneous: it contains reversible and irreversible functional forms as well as convex and non-convex functional forms. The class’ heterogeneity provides several modelling and research opportunities.

The objective of the study was to ascertain the potential of infrared thermal imaging (IRT) to detect the development of clinical mastitis at an early stage. The study was carried out on a one-site small pig farm with 80 breeding sows (crossbreed Landrace × Yorkshire) that had a history of high incidence of MMA. The udder-skin temperatures of the breeding sows were measured using a high-quality IRT camera (FLIR T650sc), in accordance with the IRT measurement protocol (including calibration and corrections), with a measurement uncertainty of $\pm 0.5$$°\mathrm{C}$. This study improves upon previous research by refining the measurement protocol and selecting more appropriate statistical methods to better analyze time-dependent data. To minimise the impact of measurement uncertainty, we propose the use of time-dependent trends (simple moving averages) caused by farrowing and lactation in place of the original IRT time series data. The findings indicate that a significant disparity between the maximum and minimum daily udder-skin temperature values, along with a pronounced maximal median of daily udder-skin IRT temperature values in sows during the early post-farrowing period, is associated with an elevated prevalence of multiglandular mastitis. Consequently, the utilisation of IRT imaging of the udder skin has the potential to facilitate the detection or prediction of multiglandular mastitis in sows. However, identifying uniglandular mastitis in individual mammary glands is more complex and may rely on time-dependent statistical trends derived from IRT imaging.